1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool-less entry landscape fixture. More particularly, a landscape fixture having a plurality of arms hingeably connected to a fixture cover, requiring no tools to open the fixture cover and having no small parts which require removal during ordinary maintenance of the landscape fixture.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various types of landscape fixtures for use in illuminating a garden, walkway, driveway, or yard. From time to time these fixtures require some type of maintenance to be performed, such as changing a light bulb. Although, many of these landscape fixtures have various means of accessing the internal electric components in order to perform the required maintenance, many of these various means require the use of tools to access the internal structures of the fixture. In addition, many of these fixtures have small removable parts which could easily be dropped or otherwise misplaced during ordinary maintenance of the fixture.
For example, one fixture described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,422 to Fischer, et al. has a hinged access but requires a separate tool for opening and closing the fixture in order to access the bulb. Moreover, the fixture requires the additional use of the described tool for removing and replacing a light bulb.
Another fixture such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,602 to Dean et al. teaches an outdoor light housing having a hingeably attached door. The access door is held in a closed position by a bolt, thus necessitating the use of a tool to open and close the fixture. Moreover the bolt could be lost when it is removed from the fixture during routine maintenance.
Herein, lies the problem with various lighting fixtures currently available. Many of these fixtures require the use of tools to access the internal structure of the fixture and maintain the light. This adds to the cost of maintaining the fixture because a plurality of maintenance tools have to be purchased. In addition many of the these fixtures have small parts which can easily be lost if placed on the ground during maintenance. For instance, if a person loses the door bolt of the lamp described in the Dean, et al. patent then the lighting fixture would be unsafe as water could enter the internal area of the structure housing electrical components.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide landscape fixture having tool-less access to the internal fixture structure.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a landscape fixture having no small parts which require removal during ordinary maintenance, and which otherwise could be lost during maintenance of the landscape fixture.
It is still a further objective of the invention to provide a landscape fixture having a flexible latch for connecting a fixture cover to the landscape fixture.
It is still a further objective to have a long life light bulb sealed from weather elements within the tool-less entry light fixture.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a tool-less entry landscape fixture which provides an adequate seal of the bulb an other electrical components without the need of closing and retaining mechanisms which require tools to remove or loosen. Particularly, a tool-less fixture which securely seals with merely a manually releasable retaining mechanism is desired.
One embodiment of a tool-less entry landscape fixture has a base structure having an upper and a lower portion, a fixture cover hingeably connected to the base structure, and a flexible closing mechanism retaining the fixture cover to the upper portion of the base structure. The tool-less entry landscape fixture further comprises first and second hinges extending from first and second radially extending arms which are fixably attached to the base structure. The upper portion of the tool-less entry landscape fixture may be substantially conical in shape and has a shelf for placing a lens and the lower portion of the base structure is substantially cylindrical in shape, hollow, and may be partially threaded. The substantially bowl shaped fixture cover has a reflective coating on one side and has first and second hinge connection members depending therefrom and hingeably connected to the first and second hinges by means of first and second pins. The tool-less entry landscape fixture of the present invention may be substantially mushroom shaped and further comprises an optical lens which is cylindrical in shape having sealing gaskets made of silicone around an upper circumference and a lower circumference for sealing between the fixture cover and the upper portion of the base structure. The tool-less entry landscape fixture further comprises a light source of the halogen type housed beneath said fixture cover.